Is There A Coming Burgundy Apocalypse?

June 28, 2016

For years, vintages of Burgundy have been smaller and smaller, while prices have gone up and up. Rain, floods, and hailstorms have decimated vineyards since 2010, especially in the Côte de Beaune (the southern part of the famous limestone strip that’s home to the most famous vineyards). Growers invested in weird anti-hail devices, but, alas, they haven’t worked. Regional businesses are facing a crisis of how to survive.

The chardonnay grape harvest was down 30 percent in 2013, pinot noir as much as 50 percent. In 2014, which had some of the worst weather in recent memory, some winemakers lost 90 percent of their crop; 2016 is already looking to be worse, weatherwise. This means the remaining grapes are much more expensive, and businesses that depend on making wines from them will be forced to pay a premium they increasingly can’t afford.

“Growers essentially say, pay what we ask, or we’ll sell to someone else,” says Blair Pethel, one of the growing number of "micro-negociants"— small domaines who buy grapes from growers to turn into wine rather than owning their own vines. Grapes to make his 300 bottles of 2009 grand cru Charmes-Chambertin cost $8,800; the price for the same amount in 2015 was about $25,000. He didn’t buy.

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